Block Party!

Woo! New game! But what all is there to it? Where are the points? Where are the penalties?

Allow me to explain:

The Game

The field looks like this:

It’s divided diagonally, much like Ring it Up!, but now the platform in the middle is hugely complicated and the playing element is dispensed at corners rather than on the sides. The goal is to score 2″ cubes into Bowled Over! crates (both depicted below)

The scoring element, a 2″ cubeThe scoring crates

In the autonomous phase, points are scored by putting cubes in crates and driving the robot onto the center bridge.

20 points are awarded to teams that get cubes in cratesBut 40 points are given to teams that can score a cube above an IR beacon10 points are given for parking partially on the bridge, 20 for being all the way on the bridgeYou can also score 5 points by putting cubes a low goal

During the TeleOp phase, you can put cubes in crates and into the low goals. Cubes in the low goal count for 1 point, in outside crates are 3 points, and inside crates are two points.

In the end game, you have three choices as to how to play. You can choose to continue to do the TeleOp phase (and if your pendulum goal are balanced, you get a 50% multiplier to your score); you can raise your only alliance flag, which will score you 25 points if raised to half-mast and 35 points if raised to the top; and there is the hanging bonus (you may recall this from the FRC game Ultimate Ascent or the FTC game Hangin’-a-Round), where if you’re robot can grab the bar that is atop the bridge and pull itself up off the ground, then you get 50 points.

Penalties

In the past, penalties have been a deduction from the offender’s score. This year, penalties will be an addition to the non-offender’s score. That is, if the red alliance got a five-point penalty, the blue alliance would get five points added to their score, while the red alliance’s score remained the same.

Penalties are scored like so:

Minor Penalty—10 points

Major Penalty—50 points

DQ—Disqualified

These are the game-specific penalties (go to the game manual part 2 for the safety and general penalties):

Possessing more than 4 blocks at one time—Minor penalty ever 5 seconds; blocks cannot be scored

Harassing your opponent’s pendulum (unless you’re scoring in it)—Major penalty, unless it’s inadvertent, in which case there is no penalty

Scoring or de-scoring in your opponent’s pendulum in the end game—Major penalty, and the opposing alliance gets a balance bonus

De-scoring (except from floor goal)—Major penalty

Touching cubes after the match ends—cubes won’t be scored

Scoring non-preloaded cubes in autonomous mode—cubes will not be counted

Hanging interference—Major penalty

Touching an opponent’s flagpole—Major penalty if intentional

Blocking opponent’s flag zone in end game—Major penalty

Touching robot after IR beacons are placed—minor penalty, team might not be able to score for autonomous crates

Grabbing, grappling, or attaching robot to field components—allowed (not a penalty; this usually is a penalty)